Age related Macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among people over 50 in the western world. At the moment there is no cure for advanced AMD, but the progression of an exudative (wet) type of AMD can be slowed or even stopped by various evolving treatment methods. Earlier diagnosis allows for better chances of treatment success.
Various methods have been described for AMD diagnosis. U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,437 to Zur et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a diagnosis method based on transmission of light beams at different positions on a patients eye and receiving feedback on whether the beams were detected. The method uses an LCD projectorcoupled to a portable computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,897 to Sinclair et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method of testing vision field of patients in order to enhance images displayed to the individuals. The method determines effects of contrast, sensitivity and distortion in the visual field of the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,229 to Wei, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a visual field tester for disease diagnosis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,970 to Horn, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for detecting a glaucoma or a diabetic eye disease. The method includes fixating a patient's eye at a central point and displaying marks of same size and shape but different hue. The patient indicates whether the marks were identified, and accordingly an eye map is generated. The map includes a value for each point at which marks were presented.
U.S. patent publication 2002/0042580 to Alster Yair et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a diagnosis method which is based on patient input responsive to distortions in displayed patterns.